LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? Coming off its first win of the season, Indiana State was looking to win its second game in a row when it faced off against Mid-American Conference foe Ohio in the final game for the Sycamores at the Marques Maybin Classic. The game was close for the first half, but the Bobcats (4-3) out-shot the Sycamores (1-7) in the second half 46.7 percent to 29.2 percent to pick up a 62-50 win over at Freedom Hall.
ISU jumped out to an early 5-2 lead after a three-pointer by Aaron Carter and later extended that lead to 7-4 after a layup by Jay Tunnell. After the Bobcats tied the game at 7-7 at the 16:04 mark, a three-pointer from Tunnell put ISU back up 10-7 with 15:10 left on the clock. That lead would eventually grow to 16-13 after a layup by Carl Richard with 8:37 remaining in the half. The Bobcats then went on a 7-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Steven Coleman, to take a 20-16 lead with just over four minutes left in the half.
Tunnell quickly answered with a three-pointer of his own to bring the Sycamores within one, but a three-pointer by Justin Orr put the Bobcats back up by four points at 23-19. Tunnell then added a dunk to cut the deficit to two at 23-21 with 2:59 left in the half for ISU. Ohio would hold on to that lead for the remainder of the half, with two free throws from Tyler Cutter cutting the lead to just two points at the half for the Sycamores at 27-25.
Carter scored the first points out of the break and gave ISU a 28-27 lead by connecting from three-point range at the 18:12 mark of the second half. However, those would be the last points for the Sycamores over the next five and a half minutes as the Bobcats put together a 12-0 run to take back the lead at 39-28. Two three-pointers by Tommy Freeman and four free throws from Jerome Tillman sparked the run and gave Ohio strong momentum for the rest of the half.
The scoring drought ended for the Sycamores at the 12:38 mark when Carter connected on another trey to cut the lead to eight at 39-31. Ohio stayed in control and widened the lead to 12 points at 47-35 after a jumper by Justin Orr. However, back-to-back threes from Carter cut the lead back to six at 47-41 for the Sycamores with 8:47 remaining in the game.
Ohio then went on a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 54-41 with 6:02 left in the game, before another trey by Carter and two free throws from Tunnell cut the Ohio lead to 54-46 at the 5:09 mark. Ohio then strung together an 8-0 run, capped off by a dunk from Coleman, to take its largest lead of the game at 62-46 with 1:12 remaining in the game. A layup from Tunnell and two free throws from Carter in the last minute were not enough and the Bobcats earned a 62-50 win over the Sycamores.
Carter finished with a career-high 20 points, including a 6-for-9 effort from three-point range, and Tunnell also finished with a season-high 20 points for ISU while adding seven rebounds and two assists. Tillman led three Ohio players in double figures with a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds in the win.
Indiana State will return to action on Saturday, December 13, against No. 14 ranked Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at Mackey Arena and the game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
